Pitchfork 2013: Frankie Rose Returns to the Stage

It's shortly before Frankie Rose is set to kick off the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park. And for the singer, the reality of the situation is starting to set in. "It's been so long," Rose told ELLE.com, referencing the nearly yearlong hiatus she'd taken from the stage. When she finished touring behind her critically praised 2012 album, Interstellar, Rose said, she was totally on point. "I was not nervous," she admitted. "I was super comfortable. I was in the zone [but now] I have stage fright again."

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She also feels that catering her music to a festival is a logistical challenge. "Luckily I'm not one of these types who is really serious, dark, and ridiculous to watch midday playing songs that you feel like they should be playing in a nightclub at night with fog," she said. Still, she added, "you're guaranteed to have some really weird moments. I've had some of the worst stage moments of my life [at a festival]."

Prior to striking out on her own in 2010, Rose was a member of cherished garage rock acts Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls, and Vivian Girls. But Interstellar, which came on the heels of 2010's Frankie Rose and the Outs, was the singer's biggest critical success to date. "I was totally caught off guard," she revealed. "When I was done with it, I didn't know what I had. I didn't know if it was going to be too weird. The accolades for it were the cherry on top."

Rose did confess, however, that the success of Interstellar put additional pressure on her when recording her forthcoming new album. The LP, which she told us is due out this fall on Fat Possum Records, was recorded in less than two months and is completely mastered. "It was really intense," she said of the manic recording process. "It was really crazy. I don't know if I ever want to do an album like that again."

Sonically, Rose said her new album is "a little bit more straightforward in a lot of ways"—a far cry, she added, from the grand, orchestral-laden Interstellar. "It sounds simpler but more refined. But definitely faster; there's almost no slow songs."

She's also pleased that her new songs will be far easier to play live than those from Interstellar. "'Interstellar' is basically an unplayable record live," she said, with a laugh. "But I did my best!"